I would never wear straight tapers as jewelry;they're unweildly & get knocked around,& I'm not a fan of the look of them.I agree that they're not a good choice to wear as jewelry,but why is it that people will go on & on about how bad it is if someone wants to wear them,yet it's perfectly fine to wear spiral tapers or claws?As far as I can see,the problems people associate w/wearing tapers,why wouldn't they also apply to spirals or claws?They're not uniform in width either,& can also get knocked around.Maybe not so much as the straight ones,but still.But I guess it's more the fact that none of them are of even uniform width,so why is one ok but not the other?

As I understand it people are more likely to try and stretch with the straight tapers and then leave them in a fresh piercing. Which I understand as a problem. While spirals are more often used in a healed piercing. Also the weight of the earrings is distributed more evenly.

Honestly the tapers I have seen level off at the end so it isn't like your fistula is being kept in a cone shape. So it has to be more of the weight of the back part of the taper. Again, they are not very heavy and I think they could be a perfectly fine look in healed piercings. Especially some of the slightly curved organic ones that look like a fang.

A part of me just thinks it is that people have a really strong association between tapers and poor stretching practice, cheap acrylic materials, and the assholes that destroy their ears with them, that they are entirely soured on the look of a taper as an earring. Even when it is being used properly.

So they make sweeping statements when of course spirals and other hanging designs share some of the same "issues" that tapers have.

I like the claw ones too,though the don't seem to make them bigger than a 00,from what I've seen,so I can't wear them.But I love spirals-I'll only wear them for a little while at a time because I like the glass ones & they're a bit heavy at my size.But I agree,I think that alot of it has to do with perception-I wouldn't be surprised if there's people w/fully healed ears that like the look & are probably apprehensive about wearing them because they're afraid of how it looks to people.I see a guy who takes the same train as me & he always wears them.He's not some kid though who would worry about what people think,& he obviously just likes the style,because he seems to have them in every color.But once again,you'll have people who will just want to wear them for a couple hours the way I wear spirals,& still you'll get people say 'that's so bad!',but they never seem to have a reason as to why,or what the difference is between me wearing glass spirals for a couple hours,& a person wearing tapers for a couple hours.That's a huge pet peeve of mine,when you get those people who will say how horrible something is,but when you ask for a reason,they can't give you one.Even if what they're saying is right,it still annoys me that someone will say something so emphatically without having or knowing a reason.

Honestly I don't think they can really be bad for you. As long as you don't try and sleep in them, and don't wear them in a fresh piercing. Personally I feel the plastic tapers are not a good look. But these are pretty cool...

I agree,I'm not a fan of the straight ones either-I know for me,the way they lay against my neck,it ends up making my ears stick out.And the plastic UV ones remind me of Hot Topic circa 1998,& I'm not even sure why they have the UV-if it has anything to do w/looking a certain way under a blacklight or whatever,at my age I don't know when I'd ever find myself under a blacklight Plus,they remind me of those fake ones w/the skinny bar hidden in them you see nowadays.But those claw ones are cool,I like those in your pic,but I want to get a pair of really nice glass ones.Body artforms has these beautiful ones-they have the gorilla glass claw shaped ones,but the ones I really want are like a claw taper,but they're more bent,& almost look closer in shape to a 7 than a claw.I figured w/having more of a bend,they'd be more likely to stay in place,& not slide to the area where it's thinner.But they only make both up to a 00 .Painful Pleasures has some glass claws that do come in 1/2"-they're not cheap,but not all that expensive,& I want to get them as soon as I have a little extra money.

You shouldn't wear spirals OR tapers in a fresh stretch, but once it's settled you can wear either one.

I'm Lindsay.I have 1/2" lobes and 11 piercings: left helix x2, both conches, both nostrils, septum, navel, and VCH.My lobes are small but I know a lot about stretching and how to do it safely, so message me if you have any questions!

That's what I kind of figured-someone on some forum asked if it'd be ok to wear straight tapers if his ears were fully healed just for a couple hours or something,& most said 'Never wear tapers,blah,blah,blah!',& I said,why not-I'll wear my spirals once in a while for a couple hours going out,& no one seems to think that's bad,so why would a straight one for a couple hours be bad if your healed.And of course,no one responded,because they didn't have a reason.But I'll see kids on Youtube or whatever using glass spirals to stretch,& I'm not even sure how that would work,because you can't follow them w/a plug,& they don't always stay in as it is,let alone if they're not all the way in.And for me,they can make my ears dry,I guess because there's so much length you're putting in & pulling out.I usually have to put some oil on them when I go to take them out.But I still think alot of people that are fully healed are probably afraid to wear straight ones for brief periods of time in fear of looking 'uncool' in front of the body modification community,which is ashame if that's what they want to wear.

But I finally sprung for a pair of Gorilla Glass vertigo claws I've been wanting.I've wanted claws for forever,& it's rare to find ones that aren't corny looking,or that come in anything bigger than a 0 or 00.So they were about $50,but to find a nice looking,good quality pair in 1/2" is rare,so it's worth it to me.But,I have to wait 2-3 weeks for them because they have to make them.